Preliminary evaluation of a low cost videoconferencing system for teaching in clinical psychiatry.

The use of a digitized low cost videoconferencing system (LCVC) for the teaching of clinical medical students on clinical attachment to a psychiatric ward is described. This work was performed as part of the Telemed project which is evaluating the use of the LCVC in a range of tasks in clinical psychiatry. Any move towards greater reliance on communications technology in psychiatry should take account of the requirements of clinical teaching. The case presentation was used as a teaching paradigm in a controlled study comparing teaching face-to-face with teaching mediated via the LCVC. A questionnaire was developed for student evaluation of the case presentation. General user responses to the LCVC are reported. No significant differences were found between the conditions. User responses were favourable, suggesting that remote interactive teaching via the LCVC warrants further investigation.